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The big debate between my friend and I when we ordered our new laptops was - what brand, and how big? It's funny, we both bought them around the same time, but I ordered mine online and she purchased hers directly from a store. We both ended up with a 17" laptop computer with most of the same options included.

Even though I bought the laptop with the idea of taking it with me when I traveled, the one thing I did not consider was buying a special laptop bag. I figured I would just put it in my old college book bag and call it good. But she had a really cool laptop bag, and I just couldn't get it out of my mind.

On my first trip away with my new computer, I discovered a few flaws in using a regular book bag to carry the laptop around. This made me want a new women's laptop bag even more!

First - it was not protected very well. I had to make my own laptop bag cushions by putting my extra clothes around the laptop because I didn't want my water bottle and other items to scratch it - or worse yet, leak on it. This made it a little hard to take the laptop in and out of the bag when I wanted to use it on the plane. At that point, I thought maybe a laptop sleeve would come in handy.

Even though my friend had a cool laptop bag, I soon discovered that it was also more functional than a regular book backpack. Of course, I had to do a lot of research before I settled on my first laptop bag, and since I wanted a really cool laptop bag there were a lot of things to consider. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you look for a women's laptop bag, and especially if you're going to purchase it online:

** What to consider first - As you start to look through the available womens laptop bags, you will find that there are a lot of choices. So you need to first decide what kind of womens laptop bag you want. This will make your shopping go much faster.

Decide if you want a backpack type bag, or a messenger laptop bag (which usually means it is carried on the shoulder). Do you need a rolling laptop bag? - If you have a 17' laptop like mine, which weighs 9.3 pounds, it might get a little heavy in a backpack. Depending on your strength and ability to carry that load on your back, you might want to consider a rolling laptop bag.

**Hard sided laptop cases versus soft sided laptop bags: If you're going to use your new women's laptop bag to carry your laptop to meetings, it's a good idea to keep the tone down a little, and maybe consider a less colorful hard sided case. These types of laptop bags will make it look more like a briefcase and help you stand out as being more professional.

** Does Weight Matter? Be sure to check weight of the bag when empty. I revealed that my laptop weight over 9 pounds, and the women's laptop bag that I almost bought weighed a little over 3 pounds. That's a lot of extra weight to carry around for just a cool laptop carry bag. I decided instead to choose a lightweight womens laptop bag, over the heaver leather bag (mostly because I wouldn't be taking it to meetings, just hauling it from the airport to the hotel room). However, this new colorful lightweight pink laptop bag still had enough protection for my laptop, as well as extra space for my accessories, like a water bottle, munchies, and a few extra clothes - just in case.